4/19/25: CDC funding cuts endanger state Long COVID response; poetry about living with Long COVID

The Trump administration's order to eliminate $11 billion in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grants has already impacted some state health departments' work monitoring and researching Long COVID — even with those cuts in limbo.

And in her collection "Days of Grace and Silence: A Chronicle of COVID's Long Haul," Ann E. Wallace chronicles her and her daughters' ongoing journey through Long COVID through poetry.

In this episode of Still Here: How $11 billion CDC cuts are impacting state health departments' efforts to monitor and research Long COVID. Also, Jersey City poet emeritus Ann E. Wallace reads three poems about living with the virus.

Also in this episode: Three studies showing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on children. And the latest COVID-19 trends.

The transcript for this podcast is⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ available on The Sick Times’ website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can jump to specific sections of the podcast and transcript below:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:47) COVID-19 trends

(00:05:27) CDC cuts impact state Long COVID response

(00:16:30) Poetry about living with Long COVID as a family

(00:24:20) Research: Three studies on COVID-19's impact on children

(00:27:16) Outro

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Mentioned in this episode (in order of appearance):

• The Sick Times: National COVID-19 trends, April 15
• CDC wastewater dashboard
• Biobot wastewater risk reports
• WastewaterSCAN dashboard
• The Sick Times: $11 billion CDC funding cuts may decimate Long COVID response in several states
• The Sick Times: UPDATE: RECOVER Long COVID pathobiology grants restored
• The Sick Times: A timely book of poetry chronicles a mother — and her daughters’ — experience
• The Sick Times: Research updates, April 15

Additional audio in this episode: 

• Rude Mechanical Orchestra: Which Side Are You On? (orig. Florence Reece) 
• Pixabay: Thunder and the beginning of rainfall